Is it possible for one employee to bring down an entire bank? Indeed it is. In 1995, England’s Barings Bank, founded in 1762, was ruined by the actions of one trader: Nick Leeson. It is an amazing story of greed, poor management, and risky business.
bring down：(政府など)を倒す
ruin：崩壊させる
greed：貪欲
Leeson started working at Barings’ Singapore office in 1992. A rising star in the company, he was appointed general manager of the office. He also became the head trader, giving him a lot of power — perhaps too much. The young star quickly earned a reputation as an excellent securities trader who delivered big profits.
appoint：指名する
securities：有価証券
Leeson reported profits of nearly £9 million in 1993, which earned him a bonus of £130,000. The numbers were even better in 1994, and Barings considered giving him a bonus of £450,000. Everything looked great on paper. Unfortunately, the profits reported by Leeson did not exist. Unknown to Barings, Leeson’s trading activity was actually losing the bank millions of pounds.
£：ポンド(英国の通貨単位)
look great on paper：経歴は立派に見える、写真で見ると立派である、理論上は素晴らしく見える
What was going on? Shortly after arriving in Singapore, Leeson had started making unauthorized, high-risk trades in the Japanese market. He quickly lost money, but he hid the losses in an account — Error Account 88888 — instead of reporting them. Leeson then made trades between the account and three other Barings accounts. This type of “cross-trade” made those three accounts look profitable.
unauthorized：認可されていない
profitable：利益をもたらす
By the end of 1994, Leeson had lost hundreds of millions of pounds. Things got even worse the following year, as the Japanese stock market continued to lose ground. By February 1995, Barings had finally discovered what was going on, but it was too late. Their total losses from Leeson’s activities were £827 million, more than the bank could cover.
lose ground：状態が悪くなる
Leeson was found guilty of fraud and spent three and a half years in a Singapore prison. Barings, the 233-year-old bank whose customers included the Queen of England, went out of business. The bank was later bought for just one pound by ING, a Dutch bank. It was a sad ending for the once-proud firm. It was also a wake-up call to other banks to improve the way they managed risks and traders.
be found guilty of X：Xの罪で有罪になる
fraud：詐欺
go out of business：倒産する、廃業する
wake-up call：警告、モーニングコール